


I Want Your Love and I Want Your Revenge

by closemyeyesandleap



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: F/F, Feels, Flirty Sara Lance, Fluff, Gideon (DC's Legends of Tomorrow) Ships It, Insecure Ava, Karaoke, Sisters, Soft Ava Sharpe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-14
Updated: 2019-08-14
Packaged: 2020-08-23 13:01:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20243299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/closemyeyesandleap/pseuds/closemyeyesandleap
Summary: When Sara taunts Ava with a video of a very drunk Ava singing karaoke, Ava swears revenge.She travels back to Starling City Elementary in the year 1995, intent on payback, but ends up seeing something very different than she imagined.





	I Want Your Love and I Want Your Revenge

“Give me that!”

Ava lunged at Sara, grabbing at her hand. Before Ava could swipe the phone from Sara’s fingers, Sara dove out of the way, somersaulting through the air before landing on her feet clear on the other side of the bed. 

“Hm, let me see…” Sara said, her voice sultry, giving way at the end to just the hint of a giggle.

“Sara!” Ava protested, rushing around the bed. Sara leapt onto the bed, just out of Ava’s reach. Sara laughed triumphantly as she plopped down onto the bed and rolled over, holding the phone close to her chest.

Ava huffed in defeat as Sara pressed play.

Tinny music sounded from the phone. Ava blanched. Sara wiggled her eyebrows as her grin spread. 

_”Every now and then I get a little bit lonely and you’re never coming ‘round,”_

Sara yelped in delight as Ava audibly groaned. 

_”Every now and then I get a little bit tired of listening to the sound of my tears.” _

“Okay, okay, you’ve had your fun, turn it off,” Ava protested. She raised her voice, trying to drown out the sounds of her own dramatic, slightly slurred singing. 

Sara gave a slight _tut, tut, tut_ with her tongue. “No way. We haven’t even gotten to the good part.” 

Ava groaned. “I don’t think I even remember that part.” She grabbed for the phone again, hoping to catch Sara off guard, but once again, her girlfriend’s ninja reflexes got the best of her. Sara rolled off the bed with a shriek, landing in a crouching position.

_”Every now and then I get a little bit helpless and I’m lying like a child in your arms.”_

Heat radiated out of every pore of Ava’s face. Sara’s face too was turning red—but with laughter. Sara danced at the front of the bed, alternating between wild gesticulations mimicking the dramatic verses of the song and artful swivels to evade Ava.

_ “And I need you now tonightttttt. And I neeeed you more than everrrr.” _

“Hit it, babe!” Sara cheered. 

“Someone’s going to hear, Sara! You’re going to wake up your entire team!”

Sara grinned deviously. “And I’m sure they’ll enjoy the song too.”

Ava sighed in defeat and gave in to watching Sara’s delighted dancing as she heard her own voice shrieking out the climax of the song.

“Your hat, Aves!” Sara exclaimed, falling in a satisfied sigh into the pillows next to Ava. “Where’d you even find that thing?”

“They were giving them out for free at the bar, I think. I was pretty drunk. First and last time I let Gary talk me into Saint Patrick’s Day karaoke.”

“I think I owe Gary a beer. This footage is priceless,” Sara said, eyes wide as she watched a very drunk Ava put the finishing touches on “Total Eclipse of the Heart” and sweep the comically large, green hat off in a final bow.

“Ugh, I can’t believe Gary gave that to you! Traitor,” Ava groaned.

Sara sat up and smirked. “I’ve got my ways.” 

Ava pursed her lips together. “What am I ever going to do with you?”

Sara winked and placed her finger gently on Ava’s midsection, sliding it silkily up across her chest to her neck. “What do you want to do with me?”

Ava suppressed a grin. “Sometimes I don’t know whether to kiss you or strangle you, you know that?”

“And why don’t you just do both?” Sara said, sliding both of her hands behind Ava’s head and moving closer.

“You’re impossible, babe.”

* * *

Ava shifted under the covers when she heard Sara’s breath fall into the slow, even pattern of sleep. She pulled her phone from the nightstand. After a quick glance at Sara, she typed a quick text. 

**Embarrassing photos/videos of Sara. Urgent.**

Charlie texted back right away, like Ava knew she would. She had to stifle a groan when she saw her response. 

**Looking for some payback, eh? You’re on your own, mate. I like being alive, myself. Have fun!** Ava rolled her eyes at the series of emojis that followed, several that hardly seemed appropriate for Charlie to send in a text to her boss about her captain. Then again, the Legends could rarely be accused of being appropriate.

“Damn,” Ava whispered. She glanced at Sara’s sleeping face. Asleep, she looked so soft, so tender. Her makeup-free face was covered in a spattering of freckles. A tuff of hair had fallen over her mouth. It fluttered up and drifted down with the rhythm of her breathing.

She looked so innocent. So childlike.

So childlike…

That was it! 

“Got you now, Lance,” Ava grinned as she carefully extricated herself from the sheets.

Ava slipped out the door of Sara’s bedroom. The Waverider was dark and far more peaceful than it was during the day. Ava checked her watch, swearing as she realized she had forgotten to pull it on in her haste to exit Sara’s room.

“Time, Gideon?” she whispered. 

“3:30 in the morning, Director!” Gideon said brightly and clearly. 

“Shush!”

“Why are we whispering, Director Sharpe?” Gideon asked innocently.

“Because it’s 3:30 in the morning!” Ava exclaimed. “I don’t want to wake anyone up.” _Least of all Sara._.

“Oh, not to worry. Judging by their heartbeats and breath patterns, the Legends are all fast asleep in their respective beds.”

“That’s kind of creepy, to be honest, Gideon.”

“My apologies, Director.”

Ava glanced around the Waverider. “I need to take the jump ship out. I should be back before anyone notices, but don’t let them know I’m gone.” She cleared her throat. “Official Bureau business.”

“Oh, I see,” Gideon replied. From the slight sparkle in the AI’s tone, Ava doubted that Gideon believed her cover story. “But if the captain asks, I will have to tell her, I’m afraid.”

“Director of the Time Bureau outranks captain of any Bureau time vessel,” Ava said sternly. 

“Not this time vessel.”

Ava sighed. She would just have to make sure to jump back to the same moment she left to avoid Sara finding out. “I need to use the fabrication room.”

“As you wish, Director Sharpe. What would you like?” 

Ava stepped into the fabrication room, considering. “I need something 90s, circa 1995. Nothing showy. Something a middle-class mom would wear.” She bit her lip. “Look, Gideon, I’m trying to get Sara a… a gift. So come on, keep it a secret, okay? For her?”

“Why didn’t you say so? My lips are sealed. Metaphorically, of course.”

Ava sneered. Ever the hopeless romantic, that Gideon.

She grabbed the jean jacket and the baggy, high-waisted pants fabricated before her eyes. Narrowing her eyes, she quickly changed in the outfit. 

“Ugh, I look ridiculous,” Ava muttered under her breath as she finished the outfit with a pair of video-enabled glasses.

“The goal was historical accuracy, not style. Even so, you need more hairspray,” Gideon suggested, fabricating a can of hairspray as she spoke. “Add some volume, Director Sharpe.” 

Ava groaned as she turned into the mirror. She teased and sprayed her hair, trying to find that line between contextually appropriate and timelessly attractive that Sara always seemed to hit right on the money. She gave one final, exasperated look at the mirror when she realized that she had failed miserably. 

Ava jumped as she heard the _thud_ of a door closing somewhere deep in the ship. 

“It’s Captain Lance. Get to the jump ship. I’ll hold her off,” Gideon said, her voice low and conspiratorial. 

“Thanks, Gideon.” Ava dashed in the direction of the jump ship. Before she could board, she heard Sara’s groggy voice in the distance.

“Hey, Gideon, where’s Ava?”

“She is in the bathroom, Captain Lance.”

“She’s been gone for a while, I think,” Sara said. Even through the distance and the tiredness in Sara’s voice, Ava could hear the concern. “Is she alright?”

“Oh, I wouldn’t know, Captain.”

“What do you mean you wouldn’t know? Aren’t you watching us basically all of the time?”

“I have recently been informed that my observation can be considered ‘creepy’ and have decided to give you all privacy in the bathroom.”

_Smooth, Gideon, _ Ava thought as she hopped into the jump ship and punched in the coordinates.

**Starling City Elementary School, Starling City, U.S.A. May 15, 1995. **

The jump ship touched down in the overgrown scruff just outside a soccer field. Ava maneuvered the ship under a few large pines. She checked to make sure the ship’s cloaking mechanism was activated. It was.

Ava dismounted onto the grass. She drew in a breath as she saw the small crowd milling outside of the auditorium in the distance. She felt ridiculous, what with her big nineties hair and her awful mom pants.

Oh well. With any luck, she would be in and out with a good laugh and a priceless piece of revenge. 

She entered the auditorium with a gaggle of parents, several holding the hands of wriggly children. She moved towards a section of seats near the front but far to the right side, where she would be able to see well but make a quick break for it, if necessary. 

Not that this was a mission that should require a fast getaway…

She took her seat behind a family of three. For a moment, she fiddled with her glasses, making sure the video was functional. 

The smell of buttered popcorn and sweat and children filled the auditorium. She’d never been in an elementary school before, not really. It was strange––once she learned that her memories were fake, they had immediately begun to fade. She could remember snippets of the childhood that had been implanted within her—a classroom full of girls and boys, a stern teacher, multiplication tables—but she didn’t remember _this_. She didn’t remember the buzz of proud parents and bored older siblings or the odor of cafeteria food and cleaning supplies.

Ava bent her head over the program she had been given. The title pulled her from her spiraling thoughts. “Starling City Elementary School Proudly Presents… Peter Pan!” it declared. Ava rifled through the pages, landing on the cast list. Sure enough, Sara’s name graced the top of the page.

Ava’s stomach fluttered with butterflies. It took her a moment to identify them for what they were—she was nervous for Sara. 

Ava rolled her eyes. Nervous for her? Sara would do the same, or worse. Sara was always more the practical joker of the two. She had to be, surrounded by the Legends 24/7.

But Ava? Knowing baby Sara was about to be embarrassed and afraid made her just want to find the child and protect her from the world.

_Come on, Sharpe. You can do this,_ she urged herself. 

“You got a kid in this?”

Ava’s head jerked up, looking for the source of the question. She jumped as her eyes met with those of a much younger Quentin Lance. “Um, no. A… a nephew. My nephew, Gary, he’s a…” she racked her brains, trying to remember the plot of _Peter Pan_. “He’s a lost boy.” 

“Gary?” Sara’s mother asked. “I don’t think I’ve met him.”

“He’s new to the school,” Ava said quickly. 

“My little sister’s the star,” the girl seated next to Quentin piped up. She looked about ten. Her dirty blonde hair was pulled back into a braid. “She’s Peter Pan.”

Ava blinked at the beaming Laurel, and her heart melted a little bit more. She knew that Laurel and Sara had had their share of conflicts—far more than most sisters, what with the mess with Oliver—but from what Sara had told her, most of the strife had begun when they were teenagers. 

“That’s awesome,” Ava said softly, her stomach tying into an even tighter knot. Damn, she was such a softie.

“Yeah!” Laurel continued. “Me and Sara, we’ve been practicing in our backyard. Sometimes, we even pretend we’re doing sword fights for real! Just with twigs though.” 

“Shh, baby,” Quentin said as canned music began in the background. “It’s startin’.”

Jaunty music sounded as the curtain rolled back to reveal clusters of children in shades of green and brown. Ava squinted, trying to figure out which of the little girls was Sara. She peaked at the Lances in front of her.

“I see her! I see her!” Laurel stage-whispered to her mom. 

Sure enough, strolling shakily to the middle of the stage was a tiny girl in green tights and a green jacket. A pointy green hat graced her head of soft blonde curls, with an oversized red feather pointing straight up above her. Her light eyes blinked in a sea of freckles and a foam sword trembled slightly in her right hand.

The jaunty music slowed and quieted. The other children on stage maintained their positions as swamp creatures and monkeys and trees and lost boys. A few looked over their shoulders at Sara, waiting for their cue to continue their dance. 

Okay, this had been a terrible idea. Little Sara’s eyes were wide and petrified. In the auditorium, looking at the eight-year-old on stage, it was hard for Ava to focus on besting her frustratingly unflappable girlfriend. 

Ava glanced at the Lances. Dinah was biting her lip. Laurel was mouthing words, her face earnest. It took Ava a moment to realize that the words on Laurel’s lips were Sara’s lines. 

After a few painful seconds that felt like hours, during which Ava seriously evaluated the damage it would do to the timeline to run up on stage and pull the child into her arms, a jolt of energy seemed to hit Sara. She threw her arms from left to right, maneuvering her body in a vigorous tap routine.

“Wrong show, sweetheart,” Quentin said under his breath with a sympathetic grimace.

Sara gave one last spin and a bow before a sob slipped through her mouth, and she rushed off stage.

The crowd sat in stunned silence for a moment. The other kids on stage swapped bewildered looks, unsure how to proceed. Then, the curtain was pulled closed hastily and a soft buzz of conversation started in the audience.

Ava stood up, relieved she had sat near the side. No way she was showing this footage to Sara. She would get on the jump ship and forget this whole thing had ever happened. What kind of girlfriend was she, going so far out of her way just to embarrass the woman she loved?

So lost in her thoughts was she that she hadn’t noticed that Laurel had gotten to her feet next to her. 

“Going to the bathroom, ‘kay?” Laurel muttered to her parents, before darting away. Ava did a double-take. Laurel was heading, not to the entrance of the auditorium, but to the back, near the stage doors.

Ava followed at a distance, curious. Laurel looked left and right and slipped through the doors. Ava followed. Finding herself in a brightly lit room, she quickly slipped behind a row of costumes. She watched through a gap in the fabric as Laurel pulled a hiccuping Sara into the room.

“Are you okay, Sara?”

“N- n- no, I looked so stupid! I d- don’t know what happened,” Sara sobbed into Laurel’s shoulder.

“No you didn’t! You looked awesome.”

“Y- you’re just saying that,” Sara sniffled.

“No, really,” Laurel insisted. “All those grown-ups came for some boring play about this kid who never wants to grow up. _That’s_ stupid. You made it interesting!” 

“You think?”

“Mmhmm. It’s what Peter Pan would do, I think. He’s really silly.”

Sara choked out a laugh. Then her small shoulders slouched again. “I can’t go out there again, Laurel. Everybody’s gonna laugh at me. But if I don’t, then there won’t be a play, and everybody’s been practicing for so long. They’re all gonna hate me. W- what am I going to do?” she asked, tears welling up in her eyes again.

“I don’t think they’ll laugh. But if they do, so what? I think going back out there would make you really, really brave.”

Sara bit her lip. “But what if I forget my lines again?”

“Hm,” Laurel considered. “You never forgot them when we would practice. You know what? Mom and Dad and me, we’re sitting near the front, on the side near the locker rooms. You know where I’m talking about? Just say the lines at me. That way, it’ll be just like we practiced, and you won’t forget.”

Sara swallowed. “You think so?”

Laurel nodded. “I know so.”

A woman carrying a clipboard peeked her head around the corner. “You think you can give it another go, honey?” she asked sympathetically.

Sara rubbed her cheeks, trying to rid herself of the last vestiges of her tears. “Uh-huh.”

Laurel gave Sara a squeeze. “Go get ‘em, Sar-bear.”

“Don’t call me that,” Sara pouted. 

“But––” Laurel started.

“I’m Peter Pan,” Sara finished, flourishing her sword and smiling at her sister.

Laurel grinned. “Yeah you are.”

Ava watched as the woman led little Sara around the corner. Sara’s tiny hands were curled into fists. Her back was straight, holding her little chest aloft with a dignity only slightly belayed by the bright green tights and jaunty feather.

* * *

Ava made her way back to the jump ship. 

_Damn it,_ she muttered as she made to punch in the coordinates to get back to the Waverider. In her haste to leave before Sara rounded the corner and noticed her depart, she had forgotten to take note of the proper time to return.

Knowing the consequences of arriving to early and crossing her own path, she entered 4:00AM.

She could only hope Sara had gone back to sleep. 

After she hooked the jump ship to the Waverider, Ava hastily changed from her ridiculous nineties clothes back into her camisole and pajama pants. She snuck out the door, slipping around the corner. 

It seemed dark still. She crept down the hall and into Sara’s room. 

“You okay, babe?”

Well, it had been worth a shot. Ava turned and looked at her girlfriend, looking blearily up at her from the bed.

“Yeah, of course. Go back to sleep, Sara.”

“You’ve been gone for a while. I got worri––what the hell happened to your hair?”

“Wha— nothing!” Ava protested. “Bedhead, you know.” 

“If that’s bedhead, I’m a life-sized Beebo, Aves.”

Ava sighed in defeat. She pulled the video-recording glasses out from her pajama pockets. 

“My hair looks so weird because I was in 1995. It was supposed to be a surprise, but I got you something.”

“Glasses?” Sara asked, pulling herself up to sit cross-legged next to Ava on the bed. “From the nineties?”

“Gideon, can you play the footage?” Ava called. “Starting from when I got up… I think you know where.”

“Right away, Director Sharpe.”

Sara’s eyes met Ava’s, confusion spread across her face. “Ava, I don’t get it.”

“Just watch, love,” Ava murmured, pulling Sara half onto her lap as they cuddled closer to each other. 

The video started as Ava had requested, with a relatively dark image as Ava got to her feet in the auditorium to follow Laurel. Sara’s eyes followed the back of Laurel’s head in confusion, still unsure as to what she was watching.

Then the scene played out before them. Sara just stared, unblinking. 

Only when Laurel said, “Go get ‘em, Sar-bear,” did the tears that had been brimming in Sara’s eyes finally begin to flow. 

“Laurel,” she whispered. The video faded to black. Sara blinked and curled deeper into Ava. 

Ava held her girlfriend close, doubt trickling into her mind. What if instead of bringing her comfort the video had torn open the poorly healed wounds of Sara’s sister’s death? What kind of a girlfriend was she?

“I… I didn’t remember that,” Sara said finally. “I can’t believe I forgot. I… after the Lazarus pit, you know, so many of my memories disappeared. The only thing I remembered from that night was that stupid jig I did, but this… Ava,” she finished, turning her tear-filled eyes to gaze once again into Ava’s.

“I wish I had been able to know Laurel,” Ava said quietly. “You guys had something special.”

Sara nodded. “It wasn’t always perfect. But that right there? That was all Laurel. That was who Laurel was till the day she—”

Her voice faded off again. Ava brushed a strand of hair from Sara’s eyes.

They sat in silence, the soft hum of the Waverider the only sound that accompanied their slow breath.

“I can’t imagine a better gift, Ava,” Sara said finally. “It’s not my birthday or anything, though. Why’d you do it?”

Ava shifted guiltily. “So, that kinda sorta wasn’t the plan.”

“Oh?”

“Truth is, I was trying to get payback.”

Sara raised her eyebrow. “For what?”

“For that stupid karaoke video! I wanted to get some blackmail on you. You’re so perfect all of the time, so the only thing I could think of was that story you told me about when you were Peter Pan!” 

She bit her lip and looked up hopefully at Sara. “That was stupid, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have pried into your life like that.”

Sara snorted. “‘Perfect all the time?’ Ava, half of being a Legend is going around looking like an _idiot_ all the time. It’s basically our job description. You said it yourself!”

“Hey, now, you’ve always been an idiot with style,” Ava sighed. “Nothing fazes you. I just wanted the last laugh for once.”

“And instead you brought me the most wonderful, thoughtful, perfect gift anyone has ever given me,” Sara said, squeezing Ava’s shoulders. “That’s why I love you. I’m sorry I embarrassed you. Honestly, I just thought your karaoke was pretty damn hot. Crazy, but hot. I didn’t want to hurt your feelings.”

Ava kissed Sara softly on the forehead. “I forgive you, babe.”

* * *

When Ava awoke much later, simulated sunlight was streaming into the room. She yawned and rolled over, reaching out her arms to embrace Sara.

Her eyebrows drew together in disappointment as her arms closed over nothing.

She yawned again widely. 

Ava groaned as a loud noise resonated throughout the Waverider. Then, she her head shot up as the sound of Sara’s voice streamed through the vessel.

“All Legends to the bridge. I repeat, all Legends to the bridge immediately.”

Ava squeezed her eyes shut and debated, for a split second, if she could steal a few more moments of sleep. After all, she wasn’t technically a Legend. 

But if there was a crisis, she knew it would be all hands on deck. She pulled on a pair of practical khakis and a t-shirt as fast as she could and headed to the bridge.

The second she walked in, the lights flashed neon colors.

“Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh! Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh! Caught in a bad romance!”

Ava’s head shot up. Oh my god. What the hell?

Sara was dressed in a bedazzled blue leotard and massive platform heels that flashed silver. The leotard culminated in dramatic shoulder pads. Her hair was blown back and held in place by what looked like a pound of hair spray. 

Ava gaped at the other Legends who looked just as confused as she did as Sara broke into the long thread of “Ra Ras” and “Ga Gas.”

The music swelled and Sara belted out the lyrics. 

“Damn, Captain,” Charlie grinned, impressed. “Not hittin’ the notes but you got spirit.”

Ava swallowed as Sara marched up to her, reaching the chorus. Sara draped her body over Ava’s as she sang, her hand stroking Ava’s side.

Ava was beet red, aroused and amazed and bewildered and so very in love. 

Sara stepped back, singing her soul out into the microphone. Her eyes remained fixed with Ava’s. Ava could almost feel the crackle of electricity between their eyes.

Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore. “What the hell am I going to do with you, Lance?” she asked, pulling Sara close and cutting off the last notes of “Bad Romance” with deep kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, Bad Romance came out when Sara was either on Lian Yu or in Nanda Parbat, but the Waverider's got YouTube. Surely she's caught up!
> 
> I'd love to hear your thoughts! :)


End file.
